This project is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Budget

CHF 2,043,000

Thematic focus

Partnership and Capacity Development
Skills Development and Education
Sustainable and Inclusive Economies

Current Situation

As agriculture and food markets have expanded rapidly in Asia and the Pacific Region (APR) during the last decades, millions of dollars of public money have been poured into programmes/projects with the mandate for inclusive chain development.

In spite of the growing opportunities, implementing partners of inclusive VCD programme/projects in the region face significant challenges. The design, implementation, monitoring and scaling-up of such initiatives require technical expertise in VC analysis and sectoral plan development, which implementing agencies are often not well equipped.

Solutions

To address these challenges, IFAD provides a project grant named ‘Regional Training Network for Scaling up of pro-poor Value chain programmes” that aims to establish a regional self-sustaining training facility, comprises national Centers of Excellences, able to provide trainings and services required to strengthen the capacity of Governments especially the implementing partners of inclusive value chain development projects in India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Laos in identifying, designing, implementing and scaling up pro-poor value chain initiative.

The grant envisages a multi-nodal Value Chain and Market System Development training facility able to build capacities of implementing agencies of VC development projects in a range of different contexts and countries. For this purpose, a network of regional and national Centers of Excellence (CoEs) shall be established and strengthened. The grant shall also help provide evidence for multi-stakeholder dialogue processes. Strategies for learning and scaling up provide a critical entry point to underpin communication and policy dialogue with key decision-makers; while working with national centres shall communicate project lessons and results using action research products whose reach shall extend beyond the circle of influence of a single project.

Establishing the Network requires the identification of qualified regional/national CoEs with certified trainers, adapted training curricula and strong national training partners. The proposed Regional Training Facility for Scaling Up Value Chain Development (hereafter referred to as the Value chain Capacity Building Network- VCB-N) will be managed by a Board that comprises the Network’s founding national/regional members. The VCB-N will also enhance regional synergies for the training programme, as each CoEs draws on its local network to market its own competencies and services as well as on technical expertise within the regional partnership.

Expected results

A network of CoEs is in place for jointly fulfilling local training and service requirements in VC&MSD and in M&E for up-scaling:

Governments and executing partners have affordable and prompt access to local and regional technical expertise needed for the development and implementation of effective and sustainable value chain interventions;